 A Car Worthy of the Name | |
| Industry | Automotive |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1921; 104 years ago (1921) |
| Defunct | 1927; 98 years ago (1927) |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Headquarters | Detroit, Michigan, |
Key people | Barney Everitt,Eddie Rickenbacker,Walter Flanders,William E. Metzger |
| Products | Automobiles |
Production output | 27,419 (1922-1927) |
Rickenbacker was aVintage Eraautomobile manufactured inDetroit,Michigan, from 1922 until 1927. The car is best known for pioneering production offour-wheel brakes.[1]
The company was established byBarney Everitt and CaptainEddie Rickenbacker, with Rickenbacker serving as Vice President and Director of Sales. Everitt's former partnersWalter Flanders andWilliam Metzger were also involved. Rickenbacker used hisWorld War I,94th Aero Squadron emblem depicting atop hat inside a ring. The 'Hat in a Ring' emblems were located both on the front and the back of the cars.[1]
The Rickenbacker was designed by engineers Harry L. Cunningham and E.R. Evans. It had a 3,482cc side-valvesix-cylinder engine developing 58-hp, which ran very smoothly due to twoflywheels, one at each end of thecrankshaft. The first Rickenbackers were displayed at the January 1922New York Automobile Show. One of the display cars featured experimental four-wheel brakes.[2]
.jpg)
The company made sportingcoupés,touring cars,sedans, androadsters. Four-wheel inside brakes were introduced in 1923. Prices in 1923 ranged from $1,485 for aphaeton to $1,985 (equivalent to $36,633 in 2024) for a sedan.[2]
Several automobile companies began using four-wheel brakes but some companies not offering them began a promotion campaign suggesting they were unsafe, which probably hurt the new Rickenbacker company's sales. The death of Walter Flanders in an automobile accident in 1923 slowed company momentum as well.[1]
In 1924 a coach-brougham enclosed body style was introduced that would grow to represent 60% of Rickenbacker sales.[1] The six-cylinder engine was up-rated to 60-hp and was joined in 1925 by an 4,401cceight-cylinder engine developing 80-hp. The model was namedVertical Eight Super Fine which referred to the advanced proprietary engine and the high quality of the cars.[2]
Eddie Rickenbacker resigned from the company in 1926 due to internal discord in the company's leadership. Although 1927 saw new models, designated the6-70,8-80, and8-90, Rickenbacker cars had increased in price and sales were poor. Before the company closed down due to bankruptcy in 1927, more than 27,000 cars had been built.[2][1]
The manufacturing equipment was sold toAudi and transported toGermany, which was somewhat ironic since Rickenbacker renounced his supposed German heritage (he was actually of Swiss ancestry) in light ofWorld War I. This transaction was reflected in Audi Zwickau and Dresden models, using six- or eight-cylinder Rickenbacker engines.[2]
